Electrical Question 110-220 Volt

blacksheep10 · Dec 18, 2015

funny deal though, I have a dynatorch. Buddy has a 8x16 TM. THC obviously. When his dynasty tig welders strike an arc, the table is unaffected. When his old synchrowave tig strikes up, the torch head jogs down 3/16" and immediately back up in a matter of about .5 sec. First time we noticed it we were drinking beer by his table and his guy was welding with the old welder, something was wrong with one of the dynastys. Out of the corner of our eyes we saw the torch move and wondered if it was the beer until the worker struck another arc laughing1. I think his torch height motor is servo and travel motors are steppers? might be wrong. All mine are servo smartmotors.

Stretch · Dec 18, 2015

JohnG said:
I have been having communication issues with my Torchmate table. Been this way on and off since I got it 5 years ago. Table will move properly with the plasma torch off, so that rules out the table/software I think.

Torchmate technical has had me add a UPS (Battery backup), and move cables around so they are not parallel. Also did I jumper change in the control box. Still have the issue. Yesterday, they send out this by email to all customers.

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Grounding Torchmate Control System
TECHNICAL BULLETIN

Proper grounding must be provided to ensure personnel safety and to suppress high frequency noise. The foundation
of good grounding is an effective earth ground rod. A star ground point usually connects to the rod with a short, heavy
conductor. Lines radiate out from this ground point to each component of the system, establishing a central grounding
point. A simple copper clad steel rod can be driven into the ground to create a Grounding Rod; however, the rod must be
driven into the ground deep enough such that it comes into contact with the water table to ensure a proper earth ground.
Consult with a qualified electrical technician to verify your system grounding.
Use 12 AWG Stranded Wire to connect the ground of each system component to the Star Ground on the table.
Star Ground on Table (or Plate, if not using a water table)

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The building has an earth ground put in by the electricians when built. It is next to the electrical panel, which is 20' down one wall, and 15' across another wall to the table.

Should I drill the slab and install a second ground rod? Is my electrical panel ground rod good enough and I am off on a tangent? Is there a way to use the 6or 8 gauge ground in the extension cord going to the plasma?

What Torchmate sent you is about the exact same as ShopBot told me when I installed the PRTAlpha 5x10 in my previous employer's shop. I was getting intermittent communication issues between the Computer and the control box. Basically at random times the computer would lose connectivity with the control box. I could manually control the movement of Gantry and Z axis, through the computer, but when I went to run a part file the router would fire up and then the machine would freeze. I ended up having to isolate the machine and its components from the ground that the computer was on. I ran ground wires (12awg) from each corner of the table back to a ground attached to a nearby exterior wall (slab was too thick to drill through with what I had at the time). I also ran one from the carrier for the router (Z axis), gantry and Vac hose carrier back to this same grounding point. After that I could run whatever I wanted and not have any interference. Vac system turned on, the every zone of the Vacuum hold down system on and the machine cutting parts all day long without issue. Been like this ever since and they are still running the machine and about to move it to their new building. I'm sure I'll end up getting a call about how I did it or just end up going back when they move the table.

John Galbreath Jr. · Dec 18, 2015

Got parts.

aa

Sent using left thumb.

John Galbreath Jr. · Dec 19, 2015

Okay. Got the ground rod in. 8 foot rod with 11 inches showing. There was no rock in that YouTube video. That took a while!! Grounded the water table.

Not sure it was necessary, but grounded the Torchmate table also.

Tomorrow I am going to run the grounds down the wires to the stepper motors. Easy where they run straight across the table, but what should I do with excess behind the control box. I know Torchmate says not to coil these.

I also plan to run a ground wire tied to the USB cable from the computer to the control box.

Is there any reason to put a ground to the work piece (sheet steel) also, or just the ground clamp from the plasma machine?

Any other grounds I should run? I added a block to make adding them easy.

al1tonyota · Dec 19, 2015

I gotta say buddy when you do it you do it big! I sure hope all that makes it work right! :drinkers:

John Galbreath Jr. · Dec 20, 2015

Bump for Sunday, hoping those helping will see it. Got the heat on and ready to continue running grounds. Got a 500 foot roll of 12 gauge stranded wire.

John Galbreath Jr. · Dec 20, 2015

So far, so good. What I have done.

Added a ground from each stepper motor back to control box then onto ground block.

Extended the plasma trigger wire 7' allowing the machine to move out from under the workpiece, and added a ground wire from plasma trigger wire to the control box and to the ground rod.

Added a ground from the control box power cable as far at the inline power supply, then went to the ground rod.

Changed the routing of the extension cord to the control box and separated it from the control box USB cable 24", were run next to each other and parallel.

Changed the 220V extension cord for the plasma to come in another door so that line did not pass under the table.

Formatted the computer and did a fresh install of Windows XP Professional.

First two parts cut perfect. Second part (clock) had over 10 minute run time and over 100 pierces.

Enough for the day. But good results, thanks Hardline for the guidance.